Externally located adjustable door hanger



March 26, 1957 Q. PEARSON 2,786,227

EXTERNALLY LCCATED ADJUSTABLE DOOR HANGER Filed Jan. 8, 1954 A TTORNE YJ' United States Patent ice EXTERNALLY LOCATED ADJUSTABLE DOOR HANGER Olaf Pearson, West Orange, N. J. Application January 8, 1954, Serial No. 402,887

3 Claims. (Cl. 16-105) This invention relates to sliding door hangers and more especially to a construction which is located entirely outside of the door.

In sliding door hangers of the prior art, and of the type to which this invention is comparable, it has been the practice to have at least a portion of the door hanger located within the door. This has required a mortising operation before the door hanger could be atached to the door, and such mortising operations have been expensive and have added to the cost of the sliding door.

It is an object of this invention to provide a door hanger which is constructed in such a Way that the overall height of the hanger is small, and the entire hanger can be eated above the top face of the door without requiring an excessive distance between the top of the door and the over-head track from which the door is supported.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sliding door hanger, of the character indicated, in combination with a track having a top wall and a bottom channel from which the door hanger can be removed only when the hanger is adjusted so as to obtain an abnormally large clearance between the track rider, that supports the door, and the face of the hanger that extends under the channel. After assembly with the track, the parts are again adjusted to their normal working positions, and the roller cannot be removed from the track.

One feature of the invention relates to a construction for adjusting the distance between a roller and a base by which the hanger is connected with a sliding do or; the construction having a minimum number of moving parts, and parts that are constructed in an inexpensive manner. The invention is rugged, inexpensive to manufacture, and convenient and reliable in use.

- Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear, or be pointed out, as the descriptionproceeds.

5 In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like Patented Mar. 26, 1957 the invention on a sliding door and illustrating the way in which the apparatus can be adjusted even though it is not readily accessible after the door is hung.

The invention includes a base plate 10 having screw holes 11 for receiving screws by which the base plate is connected to the top face of a door. The bottor'n'face of the base plate 10 is preferably fiat for contact with a fiat top face of a door, but it will be understood that this face of the base can be shaped as necessary for the particular door and method of attachment which is 'intended to be used. It is a feature of the invention, however, that allpartsof the assembly are located beyond the face of the base plate 10 which contacts with the door; that is, outside of the structure of the door.

Two lugs are formed by bending up edge portions of the base plate 10, One of these lugs, indicated by the reference character 12, is bent upwardly along a longitudinally extending line; and this lug 12 is substantially normal to the surface of the base plate 10. The second lug, indicated by the reference character 14, bent upwardly along a transverse line, extends at an acute angle to the base plate 10; and in the construction shown, at an angle of approximately sixty degrees.

There is a frame 15 connected to the lug 12 by a pivot 16. This pivot is preferably a rivet. The frame 15 moves ang'ularly about'the pivot 16, and carries a roller 18 which is on an axle 20 rigidly connected to the frame 15.

The roller 18 is the track rider by which the sliding door is supported from an over-head track. The roller 18 runs along a channel or groove in the track, as will be herein after explained, but it should be understood that the roller 18 is merely representative of track riders which are pivotally connected to the frame 15. A slide block can be used in'place of the roller.

Angular movement of the frame 15, about the pivot 16, shifts the'roller 18 toward and from the base plate 10. Such an adjustment of the roller causes the door to be lifted or lowered with respect to the overhead track on which the roller 18 runs. Means are provided for swing ing the frame 15 angul'arly about its pivot 16, and for holding the frame 15 in any desired adjusted position.

These means include a block 22 pivotally connected to the frame- 15, and an adjustment screw 24 which threads into the block 22. The adjustment means also include a sleeve or collar 26 surrounding the screw 24 at a location adjacent to the transverse lug 14. This sleeve or collar 26 is connected to the screw 24 by welding, or it reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all Figure 5 is a dlagr-am showing the -movement lof the parts when an adjustment screw is' operated to swing the frame andmove the roller closer to or further from the basezof the hanger; i f r Fi-gurefi is a fragmentary end view showing thewayin which the sliding-f door hanger iscombined :with thettrack by whichit is supported; 1 r v r Figure .7-is a viewxsimilar to Figure 6 but showing the adjustment of thestructure-for.-placing-the roller. on the track or for removing it from the trackfand-ns's;

Figure 8 is a small scale view showing the'locations of can be inade as a part of the screw with a larger diameter than the threaded portion of the screw. A knob 28 is attached to one end of the screw 24 and on the side of the lug 14 opposite thesleeve or collar 26. In the construction illustrated, the knob 28 is welded to a head 30 of the screw, and there is a washer 32 located between the knob 23v and thelug 14. The screw 24 can be made with a largerhead,however, and this head can be shaped to serve. a s thekn'ob 28.

ljjThe' collar 26 and the knob 28 are spaced from one another by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the lug .14 so that the screw '24 can change its angular relation with respect to'the lug 14, as is necessary during theadjustnrent of theapparatus, and as will appear more fully in connection with the Figure 5. The opening in timing 14,- through which the screw 24 extends, is some what larger in diameter thanthe screw 24 so as not to interfere with" changes in the angular relation of th screwft24 with respect to the lug 14. .iai'I'hfiQPllIPOSOf the collar 26 is to cooperate with the kno'b'2 8 'iri preventing any substantial axial movement of 'the' screwwith respect to the lug 14. Thus rotation ofctheisc'r'ew 24 causes the block 22 to be pulled downwardly toward the -lu'g-14,' or to'be pushed upwardly away from the lug 14, depending upon the direction in which the screw is rotated.

The screw 24 has a head with a slot 34 for a screw driver for rotating the screw when the screw head is accessible. When the assembly is attached to a door, and the door has been hung, the end of the screw 24 is generally not accessible. For adjusting the screw 24 under such conditions, teeth are provided around the periphery of the knob 28. This construction is best shown in Figure 2. It is a feature of the invention that theperiphery of the knob 28, with the teeth thereon, extends close to the top surface of the base 10.

The advantage of this construction is brought out by reference to Figure 8 which shows a door 37 hung in a frame 38. Before the final trim is placed around the 10 which is secured to the top face of the door 37. The

end of the screw driver is placed against the teeth 36 of the knob. 28, and by exerting a pressure having a component tangential to the knob 28, the knob can be rotated in one direcion or the other, as necessary, to raise or lower the door 37. Under some conditions a hook, instead of a screw driver, is necessary for turning the knob 28 in one direction.

if the vertical edges of the door are plumb, then any adjustment of the hanger, to control the clearance of the door from the floor, is made equally on the hangers at both ends of the door. If the adjustment is made merely for the purpose of bringing the vertical edges of the door into parallel relation with the sides of the door frame, then the adjustment may be made at one end only, A

or at both ends in opposite directions.

Once the door is properly adjusted, at the time when it is initially hung, it is not usually necessary to make adjustments thereafter; but if it becomes necessary, because of the swelling or shrinkage of the woodwork in the building, or settling of the building which produces some misalignments, it is usually possible to reach the knob 28 by inserting a screw driver or hook diagonally upward between the door 37 and the molding which is placed in front of the door along the top of the frame. When this space is not sufiicient to admit a tool it is not necessary to remove anything more than the molding in order to have access to the knob 28 for making whatever adjustment has become necessary.

Figure 5 shows the movement of the frame and the roller axis as the block 22 is shifted along the adjustment screw 24. One of the purposes in providing such extensive adjustment of the axle 20, toward and from the base 10, is to make it possible to have the construction one in which the roller cannot be removed from the track after the initial adjustment has been made. This provides against accidental displacement of the door from the track.

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the feature of the construction for preventing removal of the. roller from the track after the door hanger has been assembled with the track and the parts adjusted into working relation with one another.

In Figure 6, a track 44 is secured to a supporting structure 46. This track has a top wall 48 and a downwardly extending web 49 which is substantially at right angles to the top wall 4'3. At the lower end ofthe web 49' there is a channel 50. which extends under the top wall 48, and which preferably has a width equal to about one half the width of the top wall 48. The diameter of the roller 18 is slightly less than the distance from the top wall 48 to the bottom of the channel 50. This prevents any substantial vertical movement of the roller 18, because roller will strike against thetop Wall 48. Even when door}? and the hanger are tilted away from the. web wn in Figure 7, theroller- 18 cannot be lifted over the side of the channel 50 unless the base plate 10, which extends under the channel 50, is at a much greater distance from the roller 18 than is shown in Figure 6.

In Figure 7 the frame 15 has been adjusted so as to obtain a very large clearance between the roller 18 and base plate 10. This clearance is substantially greater than any adjustments which are necessary for positioning the door with respect to its floor clearance or for plumbing the door with respect to the sides of the door frame. The frame 15 is shifted into the position shown in Figure 7 only for the purpose of getting the roller 18. into the channel 50. Then the adjusting screw is turned to bring the frame 15. down to a normal position, preferably a mid position between the opposite ends of its angular movement, and the assembly of the door, door hanger and track are designed so as to have the proper door clearance when the frame 15 is in this mid position. in order to provide for manufacturing tolerances or inaccuracy in the construction of the door, the hanger, or the door frame, the adjustment of the frame closer to or further from the base 10 is used.

Figure 6 also shows the way in which the hanger, even though located entirely externally of the door 37, is concealed behind the front frame 55 of the door frame. The door stop or molding 56 covers the gap below the frame 55, though often with some slight clearance, as shown in Figure 6, and as previously. explained.

The preferred embodiment of this invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A sliding door hanger having all parts located entirely outside of the door to which it is connected, said assembly including a roller for supporting the door from a track, an axle about which the roller rotates, a frame to. which the axle is connected, a base having a face which contacts with the surface of the door to which the hanger is to be connected, the base including a bottom plate with a flat portion substantially parallel with the top surface of the door, a base having a longitudinal dimension that extends lengthwise of the door and a transverse dimension extending in the direction of the thickness of the door when the hanger is secured. in place on the door, the plate. having. integral lugs extending upwardly from the bottom plate including a lug that connects with the plate along a longitudinal line on the plate and another lug that connects with the plate along a transverse line on the plate, the transversev lug comprising an rip-turned portion of the base plate at an acute angle to, the. top surface of the door andleaving exposed the 'top surface of the door beneath said transverse lug, a pivot connection by which the frame is connected to the longitudinal lug and about which the frame moves.

angularly to shift the roller with a vertical component of movement forchanging the distance of the roller from the base, a block pivotally connected to the. frame on e id cf h r nle t t. l s h osk n. a p t confronting the transverse Inc, an adjustment screw extending through the. transverse lug and threaded directly into an" opening in the block, a collar on the adjustment screw above the transverse lug, and a knob on the adjustment screw below the transverse lug, the lowest part of said knob. being substantially as low as the top surface Qf hsflat po tion o fi b 2. The sliding door hangerdescribed in claim 1 and in which the knob has a notched peripheral surface the lowest; part of which is at least as low as the top surface of the flat portion of the base and whereby the screw can be rotated by pushing a tool against the notches from one side of the hanger and at a level close to the top of the doorwhere the. top of the door is exposed by the transverse lug.

3. A sliding. door hanger assembly for supporting a door with all parts of the assembly located outside of the door, said assembly including a base plate with a flat portion substantially parallel with the top surface of the door, the base plate having a longitudinal dimension that extends lengthwise of the door, and a transverse dimension extending in the direction of the thickness of the door when secured in place on the door, there being openings through the base plate for screws by which the plate is to be connected with the door, and two lugs which extend upwardly from the base plate and which are of one piece construction with the base plate and of equal thickness therewith, one of the lugs consisting of a portion of the base plate which joins the rest of the base plate along a longitudinal line, and the other of the lugs consisting of a portion of the base plate which joins the rest of the base plate along transversely extending line, the longitudinally extending lug being generally normal to the flat portion of the base plate and the transversely extending lug being at an acute angle to said flat portion of the base plate, an integral and rigid frame pivotally connected to the longitudinally extending lug for swinging movement about an axis extending transversely of the base, a track-engaging element for supporting the assembly from a track, a pivot axle on which the trackengaging element turns, means connecting the axle with the frame, a block carried by the rigid frame at a location between the pivot axle and the pivotal connection of the frame to the longitudinally extending lug, means pivotally connecting the block to the frame on the side of the frame opposite the track-engaging element, the block having a side surface that thrusts against a confronting surface of the frame, an adjustment screw extending through the block, the block being threaded to receive the adjustment screw, and a head on the adjustment screw on the lower side of the transversely extending lug and adjacent to the lug for preventing axial movement of the adjusting screw in one direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 293,598 Schmid Feb. 12, 1884 35.l,947 Wahl Nov. 2, 1886 4 6,390 Lane Apr' 22, 1890 524,465 Hance Aug. 14, 1894 689,395 Handschumacher Dec. 24, 1901 766,578 Axman et a1. Aug. 2, 1904 835,734 Reynolds Nov. 13, 1906 1,232,563 Kail July 10, 1911 

